Question: I am redoing the floor in my kitchen and dining room (they are one large room). Throughout the house, I have high beams in light blue, and the rest of the high ceilings consist of exposed medium brown wood boards.

My new countertops will be granite, which is dark brown with random specks of ivory (already ordered). The area above the splash will be covered in a sheet of stainless steel. My wall is light blue; wallpaper is white and light blue. Cabinets are now light blue, but I plan to repaint them an ivory color. The oven and dishwasher fronts are black; the refrigerator is white. The stovetop is stainless steel.

The floor will be redone, and I plan to use a laminate maple. (The maple I saw comes in different shades of brown, and there is one that comes in a shade of light brown with dark streaks of brown.) Please advise me as to what color to use for the floor and what color to paint the cabinets.

Answer: Your design dilemma is a classic "too many" problem. You have many surfaces made of many different materials with many colors. Let's go back to basics so we can sort through all the "manys" and come up with an effective solution for your kitchen.

The underlying question is "How do I finish the remaining surfaces in the room to make everything look cohesive?"

Some of your surfaces will stay the way they are. The painted walls, wallpaper and painted beams with wood ceiling planks will form the main color palette. Since the dark brown granite countertops are already on order and will be a large visual element in the room, take this color into consideration.

The surfaces which are subject to change, and in which there is some flexibility as to color, are the cabinets, the appliances and the floors. Let's start with the cabinets since these are the easiest to address. Take a piece of your wallpaper to a paint store and find a white paint that matches the white background color of the wallpaper. This is the color you will paint the cabinets, which will allow the cabinets and walls to relate to each other. Initially you may have to buy several different "whites" to do paint tests just to be sure the color you select in the store works in the actual space.

Don't forget the windows and doors. Their trims should be painted the same color as the cabinets.

Remember to prepare all painted surfaces properly prior to painting so the finished result is good quality. Replacing cabinet hardware is an easy way to give older cabinets an updated look. Since you mention that the splash area and cooktop are stainless steel, you can find hinges, knobs and drawer pulls in brushed nickel or stainless steel to complement them.

Next, the appliances. They seem to be a mix of stainless steel, black and white. Some dishwasher and oven manufacturers offer different front door panel colors. If possible, replace the black with white panels to match the white refrigerator. Now all the large built-in pieces are white and the stainless cooktop matches the backsplash and the new hinges, knobs and drawer pulls.

Finally, we come to the floor color. Take a piece of the countertop granite to the store where the floor samples are. Choose a wood color that makes a good background color for the granite and allows the counter to be the focal point.

Now take a sample of the wood floor to the house and see how it looks in the actual light of your home. You can expect that it will look different, and it's important to see how it will look in this space. Now that all the many different surfaces relate well to each other, it's important to finish this large area with accessories so it all flows together and looks coordinated. Blue and white fabric that complements the wallpaper can be used to create interesting window details, perhaps fabric-covered valances with matchstick shades, and/or drapes, to accent the windows and give the room a completed look. This fabric can also be used as seat cushions if your dining chairs are wood, or can be used to reupholster existing furniture in the room.

Again, little details like these help tie a room together.

Since blue and white is your color palette, perhaps several blue and white Delft-style dishes hung on the wall with blue ribbons will be an accessory that makes the room look totally "done."

 

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